This invention relates to household refrigerators and, more particularly, to a drain system for a household refrigerator.
In a typical household refrigerator, commonly referred to as a top mount model, the freezing compartment is at the top of the cabinet and a fresh food compartment below the freezer compartment. The freezer compartment has an evaporator disposed in conjunction with the walls thereof to provide below freezing temperature to the freezer compartment. A portion ofthe evaporator passes through the walls of the fresh food compartment and is disposed within the fresh food compartment to provide cooling temperatures above the freezing point. During normal operation of the system, frost tends to collect on the evaporator and on the portions of the evaporator within the fresh food compartment requiring periodic removal of the frost layer for maximum efficiency of the system. When the frost layer is melted, the defrost water tends to flow downwardly along any incline surface of the evaporator and any surfaces in association with the evaporator. There is a tendency for such defrost water to flow along the surfaces between the freezer compartment and the fresh food compartment and into the insulation provided between the inner and outer walls of the cabinet. Since any water in the insulation decreases the insulating value thereof and prevents the refrigeration system from operating efficiently as well as causing possible corrosion of the cabinet which is made of sheet metal, it is desirable that a drain system be provided wherein any defrost water is directed away from the insulation and disposed of in a suitable manner.
Drain systems have in the past been devised to help dran the defrost water and such systems are generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,755,636; 2,867,095 and 3,334,494, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
By our invention, there is provided a drain system for refrigerators wherein defrost water or other condensation is directed away from the insulation between the inner and outer walls of the cabinet and disposed of in a suitable manner.